Combined surgical and medical approach to intravenous leiomyomatosis with cardiac extension

Intravenous leiomyomatosis with cardiac extension is a rare entity. The cas e of a 49-year-old patient is described: she was operated on for intracaval intra-atrial leiomyomatosis. After an incomplete procedure (the tumour app eared not totally resectable), the patient was treated for a period of thre e years with a GnRH-analogue, whereafter the patient was doing clinically w ell and the tumour, although it regained some growth, was in a stable situa tion. This new strategy seems of certain importance to the surgeon, as it c arries an alternative to a high-risk reoperation. To our knowledge, this is the first description of such a combined therapeutical approach.